Hurricane Dean batters Jamaica

20 August 2007

Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has declared a month-long state of emergency as Hurricane Dean batters the country, with other parts of the Caribbean also braced for its arrival.Tourism in Jamaica and the wider region is likely to suffer dramatically as airports have been closed, a 48-hour curfew is in place and the island’s power company has switched off electricity. Tourists have been widely advised to stay in their hotels.

The storm, with winds of up to 145mph, has followed the country’s south coast, its eye passing a few miles away out to sea. Six people are already reported dead as a result of Hurricane Dean.

Having already caused chaos in Dominican Republic and the Eastern Caribbean, the storm is likely to head towards the Cayman Islands and the Mexican coast, where evacuations are taking place.——-